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AppSnap 1.3.3 is marginally better than 1.3.2 #94

Closed GoogleCodeExporter closed 9 years ago

GoogleCodeExporter commented 9 years ago 
AppSnap
1.3.2: okay
1.3.3: okay

AVG Free
1.3.2: okay
1.3.3: okay

BootVis
1.3.2: okay
1.3.3: okay

Cobian Backup
1.3.2: okay
1.3.3: okay

Comodo Firewall
1.3.2: installed version - 3.0.20.320 is wrong, 3.0.21.239 is installed
1.3.3: installed version - 3.0.20.320 is wrong, 3.0.21.239 is installed

Copernic Desktop Search
1.3.2: missed that it's installed
1.3.3: installed version - not available (it's 2.3)

DriveImage XML
1.3.2: missed that it's installed
1.3.3: missed that it's installed

Firefox
1.3.2: okay
1.3.3: okay

Flash Player for IE
1.3.2: missed that it's installed
1.3.3: missed that it's installed

Flash Player Plugin
1.3.2: okay
1.3.3: okay

Google Earth
1.3.2: missed that it's installed
1.3.3: latest version and installed version - not available (installed 
version is 4.1)

IrfanView and IrfanView Plugins
1.3.2: missed that they're installed
1.3.3: installed version - not available (it's 4.10 for both) 

Java JRE
1.3.2: okay
1.3.3: okay

Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
1.3.2: latest version - failed to connect
1.3.3: latest version - failed to connect

MyUninstaller
1.3.2: missed that it's installed
1.3.3: missed that it's installed

PDF-XChange Viewer
1.3.2: missed that it's installed
1.3.3: latest version - failed to connect; installed version - not 
available

Picasa
1.3.2: latest version - not available
1.3.3: latest version - not available

RoboForm
1.3.2: missed that it's installed
1.3.3: installed version - not available (it's 6.9.88)

Shockwave Player
1.3.2: latest version was newer than installed version; I installed latest 
version
1.3.3: missed that it's installed!

Unlocker
1.3.2: okay
1.3.3: okay

In sum, 1.3.2 missed 9 out of 20 apps in its database that are installed 
in my system; 1.3.3 missed 4 out of 20 apps in its database that are 
installed in my system.  AppSnap lists everything in Add/Remove Programs 
as Removable, but it evidently doesn't notice that certain apps in its 
database that it doesn't find installed are in the Removable list and, 
hence, are installed.  So, how does AppSnap determine what is installed, 
if not from Add/Remove Programs? 

There are still about 100 apps in my system that aren't in AppSnap's 
database.  Some of those apps aren't in Add/Remove Programs either. 

Why should I keep AppSnap in my system?

Original issue reported on code.google.com by erwax...@gmail.com on 28 Mar 2008 at 11:43

GoogleCodeExporter commented 9 years ago 
if you are not satisfied with appsnap maybe you could contribute to the 
project. open
source is not only about "what can i get" but also about "what can i 
contribute".

Original comment by willydu...@gmail.com on 30 Mar 2008 at 11:13

GoogleCodeExporter commented 9 years ago 
I had removed 1.3.2 from my system and written off AppSnap when I was asked to 
try 
1.3.3, which was touted as a significant improvement over 1.3.2.  I installed 
1.3.3, 
tested it and reported my findings.  If I hadn't been interested in 
contributing to 
the project, I wouldn't have bothered taking the time to install 1.3.3, test it 
and 
report my findings.  So, willydumbass, kindly take your comment, which was 
inappropriate and uncalled for, and shove it.  

If anyone would like to tell me how I can contribute further to the project, 
I'm 
willing to entertain suggestions.  I have to mention, however, that I can't 
write 
code, I don't have a lot of free time and I don't appreciate being lectured 
about 
the difference between giving and receiving.

Original comment by erwax...@gmail.com on 31 Mar 2008 at 6:27

GoogleCodeExporter commented 9 years ago 
Hello erwaxman,
I'm sorry for any hurt feelings. Willy was probably offended by your question 
of why
you should keep AppSnap on your system at all. I understand your queries and 
have the
following comments.

- AppSnap currently detects applications and installed versions based on 
information
in the uninstall section of the registry. If you installed apps outside of 
AppSnap,
the registry is (currently) the only way to figure out installed apps. A future
release will add more ways to detect versions.
- Compared to version 1.3.2, 1.3.3 can detect that an application is installed 
even
though it is unable to detect the actual installed version. Hence, some extra 
apps
were found the newer version.
- AppSnap has an app database that describes how to, among other things, detect 
the
installed version of an app. This is used by all categories except the Removable
category which is simply an Add/Remove programs front-end. What you see in that
category is obtained directly from the registry and does not help AppSnap to 
figure
out installed versions, hence the discrepancy.

As for the 100 unsupported programs, if you get a chance, please let me know 
what
apps you'd like to see AppSnap support and I'll be happy to add them to the 
database.
The database is growing and currently has 300 apps. With community support, it 
is
growing much faster that it did last year.

As for the utility of AppSnap as a whole, currently, AppSnap is very good at
installing applications, especially on a fresh box. It is easy to keep the 
latest
version detection and installer download accurate and up to date automatically 
since
it takes only a bunch of net connections and a couple minutes to test every 
site and
every download. Ensuring that app installation, installed version detection and
uninstallation works over time is harder since the apps change through releases
breaking AppSnap. Considering AppSnap already has 300 applications that add up 
to
more than 4GB of installers, it is not possible to test each app. The only way 
to
keep this accurate is if users report problems. That's exactly what you've done 
above
and it goes a long way to ensure that others don't go through the same pain. I 
really
appreciate the effort you went through to put all this information together.

Based on the information you provided, I've summarized it as follows.

The following apps do not have any installed version in the registry so show up 
as
not installed in 1.3.3. This can only be fixed by enhancing AppSnap, something
currently under investigation.
- Copernic Desktop Search
- Google Earth
- PDF-XChange Viewer
- Picasa
- RoboForm

MyUninstaller is distributed as a ZIP file and not as an installer so it 
doesn't have
any registry data to detect version information or if even it is installed.

I'm yet to add version detection for Irfanview + plugins. I'll get to this 
shortly.

The following apps have broken version detection and I'll look into this as 
well:
- DriveImage XML
- Flash Player
- Shockwave Player

Lastly, the following apps have basic stuff also broken and I'll fix this too:
- .NET 2.0
- PDF-XChange Viewer

Hope this helps clarify some issues and encourages you to use AppSnap, if not 
for
application maintenance, at least for provisioning your next fresh system.

Thanks.

Original comment by ganesh...@gmail.com on 1 Apr 2008 at 5:42

GoogleCodeExporter commented 9 years ago 
Fixed
- PDF-XChange Viewer : Fixed latest version detection
- Shockwave Player : Fixed download URL and installed version detection

Working
- .NET 2.0 : Latest version detected correctly
- DriveImage XML : Installed version detected correctly for version 1.21
- Flash Player : Detected correctly for version 9.0.115.0

Irfanview and plugins don't have any version information in the uninstall 
section in
the registry. These can only be detected after enhancements to AppSnap.

Please go ahead and update AppSnap to get these application fixes.
Thanks.

Original comment by ganesh...@gmail.com on 1 Apr 2008 at 4:32

GoogleCodeExporter commented 9 years ago 
Willy didn't hurt my feelings.  He annoyed me.  Sorta like how a flea annoys me.

I hope that you find the attached information useful.  It indicates that some 
of the 
corrections that you made were successful and some weren't.

Original comment by erwax...@gmail.com on 1 Apr 2008 at 6:16

Attachments:

GoogleCodeExporter commented 9 years ago 
Here's some more information that you may find useful.  I don't have URLs for 
some 
of the programs that I use.  Some are no longer available online.  Some of the 
programs that I use are old versions that I prefer to newer versions for one 
reason 
or another (one reason being that the old versions are free and the newer ones 
aren't, another being the tendency of some developers to add needless bells and 
whistles to excellent, simple programs).

Some of the programs that I use aren't installed, in the sense that they don't 
write 
anything to the registry.  They are self-contained in the folders in which they 
reside.  Uninstalling such a program simply involves deleting its folder and 
the 
folder's contents.

For whatever it's worth, I find AppSnap useful to the extent that it finds 
newer 
versions of programs that I use.  I may wind up not liking the newer versions, 
but I 
do like to take a look at them.  I almost always custom install programs 
manually.  
I want to put them where I want to put them, not necessarily where the 
developer 
thinks they should go.  I also want to install only those portions of the 
download 
package that I choose to install (the good stuff, not the garbage).  In other 
words, 
I'm a control freak.

Original comment by erwax...@gmail.com on 3 Apr 2008 at 9:54

Attachments: